PRIME TIME
According to the latest stats, 83 percent of all American house-holds now have a VCR on the premises. Or maybe it�s 38 percent. Either way, I remember that when I first read this figure (just where, I no longer recall), it struck me as an amazingly high percentage of American households; it was, after all, only a few years ago that the VCR was still considered a luxury item.
PRIME TIME
A LAYMAN�S GUIDE TO MODERN FUN
by Richard C. Walls
According to the latest stats, 83 percent of all American house-holds now have a VCR on the premises. Or maybe it�s 38 percent. Either way, I remember that when I first read this figure (just where, I no longer recall), it struck me as an amazingly high percentage of American households; it was, after all, only a few years ago that the VCR was still considered a luxury item. To some extent, its transformation from obscure hobby device to basic home furnishing has to do with the march of technology, the vagaries of supply and demand, and all that ted ious stuff; more importantly, it�s the result of a belief that I and many of my fellow Americans share, mainly that a complete state-of-the-art home entertainment system is a basic, constitutionally guaranteed right. Really, what do you think �the pursuit of happiness� refers to anyway, miniature golf?
Anyway, since so many of us now own one of these suckers, I thought I�d throw together a few fun facts, helpful hints, etc., in that spirit of public service for which this column has become justly famous.